Church services and vigils mark seven years since 26 killed in Sandy Hook shooting

Many in the small community of Newtown are still struggling to cope with the magnitude of the tragedy

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Flowers, teddy bears, candles, balloons and a pair of angel wings left by mourners are seen at the Sandy Hook Elementary School sign. Photo: TNS

Published: 6:40am, 15 Dec 2019Updated: 6:40am, 15 Dec 2019

Vigils and church services were held Saturday in Connecticut to mark the seventh anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and remember victims of other gun violence since the tragedy in Newtown.

Twenty first graders and six educators were killed at the school on December 14, 2012.

During one remembrance service, Monsignor Robert Weiss, of St Rose of Lima Church, expressed dismay about how the spate of deadly gun violence has continued in the US since Sandy Hook.

“On this day seven years ago, we all thought the world was going to change. But it seems we were deluded because the situation has got even worse with the violence of guns,” Weiss told a packed memorial Mass on Saturday, Hearst Connecticut Media reported. “We live in fear, we live in anxiety, and yet we live in hope because we know God walks with us.”

Lynn and Christopher McDonnell, the parents of seven-year-old Grace McDonnell, grieve near Sandy Hook Elementary after learning their daughter was one of 20 school children and six adults killed after a gunman opened fire inside the school. Photo: Reuters

According to Connecticut Against Gun Violence, which helped to organise vigils held in the state on Saturday, more than 700,000 Americans have been killed or injured in gun violence since the Sandy Hook shooting.